Bench Hook

A bench hook might not seem like much, but it's very useful for quick cuts with a hand saw. I've been using it much more frequently since that I've learned how to put a wicked sharp edge onto a chisel: instead of hand holding (ouch) or clamping the work piece, I can set it against the bench hook's fence as something to press against.

Whiteboard Desk

My first major project was a work table with a whiteboard top. This is the project that taught my why traditional furniture uses hardwood post and panel construction instead of a skeleton and skin approach: the result turned out sturdy, light, and good looking but it was a lot of work.

The skeleton is the unusual part. Its members each consist of two pine 1x2's glued at right angles along their length, kind of like an extruded angle beam if this were metal. They form the legs, a top frame, and some cross bracing. The legs, which you can see above, I tapered at the bottom and stained ebony.

A covering of 1/4" birch plywood went on top of the skeleton, with 3/4 round oak molding on all the seams. A learned note here is that it's very hard to make a presentable seam with this plywood, at least with the circular saw blade I used, thus the moldings. They improve its look anyway.

The top is 3/4" MDF with 1/4" whiteboard material glued on top and half-round oak molding around the edges, flush with the top of the whiteboard.

Welcome to the Basement

Join an amateur wood worker as he rediscovers lost methods--many probably lost for a reason--to make things out of wood. The emphasis is currently on making useful projects for the workshop and the home without a full-up woodshop full of specialized tools.

Thanks for reading.